The level 0 benchmarking tool has been developed by PICME, the Process Industries Centre for Manufacturing Excellence, to enable businesses to quickly gain an appreciation of the benefits that benchmarking can provide.

The 10 key measures included within this benchmarking tool have been specifically chosen to enable businesses in the Process sector to assess their relative competitive manufacturing position and drive forward productivity improvements.

Instructions:

1. The document is divided into three main sections:
     1. Company contact details.
     2. Manufacturing aims and objectives.
     3. Ten manufacturing measures.
2. It is possible using the printer icon to print off a hard copy of the questionnaire either to help you locate information prior to completing it online or as a means of retaining a record of your entries post completion and prior to submission.
3. To gain the best advantage from the use of this tool, you should supply the data based on a local site rather than a large organisation covering many operating sites across the globe.
4. Company contact details provide free text box entries to provide contact details and a brief description of the company's business. This information is strictly confidential, but is used to ensure that the correct databases are selected.
5. Manufacturing aims and objectives, provides a free text box to provide a brief description of the issues and challenges facing the business in the near term. This box can be left empty at this stage. The information will be used to ensure that the feedback provided is as targeted as possible.
6. The ten manufacturing measures each contain 4 word models that describe differing levels of performance. Select the word model that best describes current business performance. Under each heading a short definition of the measure is included to provide guidance. Further guidance is available from PICME Head Office on +44 (0) 1642 430021 or via 'contact us' form of the www.max-serv.com.
7. At the end of each section there is space to enter an accurate value for the particular measure. This is optional, but accurate data would help make the comparison of performance more meaningful.
8. When completed submit via the send button.
9. A brief report will be returned by e-mail within 48 hours. It will compare the performance of the business with the performance of an appropriate selection of businesses in the database.